Instant photographic method and apparatus

ABSTRACT

An instant photographic method uses a photosensitive member in the form of a roll, of a length to receive a plurality of exposures, and an image-receiving member in the form of either a roll or a sheet. The photosensitive member is cut off to the length of a single frame of film after the exposure of its leading end. Before or after cutting off the member or members, the exposed leading end of the photosensitive member and the image-receiving member are superposed. Between the superposed members a processing liquid is distributed and spread in a uniform layer for diffusion transfer processing. During the processing, negative and positive images are produced simultaneously on the photosensitive and image-receiving members, respectively, according to the latent image previously created on the photosensitive member by exposure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an instant photographic method andapparatus which uses a peel-apart type instant film comprising separatephotosensitive and image-receiving sheets which are peeled apart fromeach other after diffusion transfer processing. The instant photographicmethod and apparatus according to the present invnetion can beadvantageously applicable to photographic apparatus for commercial use,such as coin-operated photographic apparatus for identification photos,driver's license photos and the like, studio photographic apparatus andimage-recording apparatus in OA machines such as analog or digitalcopying machines, CRT display photographic devices, LCD displayphotographic devices and the like, such apparatus consuming a largenumber of instant films.

Instant photographic apparatus for use with a peel-apart type instantfilm unit (which is hereinafter referred to as a film unit) are wellknown in the art of instant photography. The film units comprisephotosensitive sheets for forming a latent image thereon andimage-receiving sheets for forming a reversed image corresponding to thelatent image formed on the photosensitive sheet by diffusion transferprocessing. These sheets are contained in a film cassette or film packin stacked relation on both sides of a pressure plate disposed in thefilm pack. After exposing the foremost of the film units loaded in acamera, a tab attached to the photosensitive sheet is withdrawn from thecamera to force the exposed photosensitive sheet to be turned through180° about the pressure plate while being withdrawn. As a consequence,the forward parts of the respective sheets are brought into closecontact with each other when leaving the camera. At this time, the tabis detached from the photosensitive sheet.

The film unit is then continuously withdrawn from the camera by pullingon the contacting forward ends so as to advance the film unit between apair of pressure-applying rollers in superposed relation. At thebeginning of the advancement of the film unit, the pressure-applyingrollers apply pressure to a pod containing a processing liquid torupture it so as to release the processing liquid. The pressure-applyingrollers distribute the processing liquid between the superposed sheetsas the sheets are advanced therebetween, spreading the processing liquidin a thin and uniform layer.

During the processing, transfer negative and positive images areproduced on the photosensitive and image-receiving sheets simultaneouslyby means of diffusion transfer.

Because the film packs used heretofore contain at most ten such filmunits as described above, it is essential to frequently replenish newfilm packs in such instant photographic apparatus for commercial use,such as coin-operated photographic apparatus for identification photos,driver's license photos, studio photographic apparatus, and imagerecording devices in OA machines and the like, which consume a largenumber of film units. A problem in these commercial devices is that thefrequency replenishment of film packs complicates the photographicprocedure.

On the other hand, the photosensitive sheet has a withdrawing sheet witha tab and the image-receiving sheet has a carrying sheet for ensuringthe withdrawal of film units from the film pack one by one. Thisconstruction of the film unit increases the manufacturing cost of thefilm unit itself, of the film pack and of the assembly thereof. Thisultimately results in an increased cost of instant prints.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore a first object of the present invention to provide aninstant photographic method and apparatus which is suitable for taking alarge number of photos.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an instantphotographic method and apparatus which allows a substantial decrease inthe frequency of replenishing film units, thereby realizing easymaintenance.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide aninstant photographic method and apparatus which can use an instant filmof simplified structure.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an instantphotographic method and apparatus which can provide low cost instantprints, thanks to the simplified structure of the instant film and theease of maintenance.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an instantphotographic method and apparatus in which there is no slippage betweenthe superposed photosensitive and image-receiving members duringprocessing, thereby producing an image without any blurring on theimage-receiving member and the placement of an image in the desiredposition on the image receiving member.

Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide animage-receiving member for use in the method and with the apparatus ofthe present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To achieve the above-mentioned objects, there are provided, inaccordance with the present invention, a photosensitive member on whichlatent images are formed and an image-receiving member. On thesemembers, negative and positive images corresponding to the latent imageare produced simultaneously during processing, by means of diffusiontransfer. The two members, which are loaded in a camera housingseparately, are superposed relative to each other by passing thembetween pressure applying rollers which rupture the pod of processingliquid so as to distribute and spread the processing liquid in an evenlayer between the superposed members.

In a desirable embodiment according to the present invention, thephotosensitive and image-receiving members, each being in the form ofrolls, are cut to form a length of one frame either before or aftersuperposition, so as to provide a film unit.

The image-receiving member is provided with a plurality of pods ofprocessing liquid attached thereto at regular intervals. The provisionof the pods makes it difficult to roll up the image-receiving member ineven convolutions and so provides many chances to rupture the podsaccidentally when rolling up the image-receiving member. tightly. On theother hand, the photosensitive member, which has a thin uniform layer ofdiffusion transfer material on one surface of its base, can be rolled upwith even convolutions.

In view of the above, it is desirable to use the photosensitive memberin the form of a roll, as also the image-receiving sheets. The part ofthe photosensitive member which has been exposed is cut off from therolled photosensitive member so as to form an exposed negative sheetwhich is superposed on the image-receiving sheet.

The superposed photosensitive and image-receiving sheets are pulledbetween pressure-applying rollers or processing rollers for spreading aprocessing liquid therebetween. At this time, however, there is apossibility of relative movement between the superposed sheets. In theevent of the relative movement between the sheets, a blurred image willbe produced on the image-receiving sheet and the image will likely beout of position on the image-receiving sheet.

Such problems can be solved by connecting the loading end of thephotosensitive sheet to the image-receiving sheet and then pulling thembetween the pressure-applying rollers.

According to the present invention, the photosensitive member is in theform of a roll, and the image-receiving member is in the form of a rollor sheets, which are cut to form sheets after exposure. The use of thephotosensitive and image-receiving members in the form of rollseliminates the need to change film packs frequently, thereby to providevery easy photographic operations. Therefore, since the instantphotographic method and apparatus according to the present invention issuitable for use when a large number of photos are taken, especiallysuccessively, it is advantageously applicable to such apparatus ascoinoperated automatic photographic apparatus in which it is costly toproviding servicing. Furthermore, according to the present invention,there is no need to provide any structure for withdrawing film sheets orunits from a film pack, because no film pack is used. As a result, thecost of each print is significantly decreased. In addition to the above,according to the present invention, the photosensitive andimage-receiving members are pulled between the pressure-applying rollersfor processing after superposing them relative to each other, and sothere is no relative movement therebetween during processing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and features of the preesnt invention willbecome more apparent to those skilled in the art from the followingdetailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an image-receiving member usedin the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the image-receiving member of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the photosensitive and image-receivingmembers partly superposed relative to each other;

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view of an embodiment of the instantphotographic apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a withdrawing mechanism;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a delivery mechanism of instant printswhich have been processed inside a camera housing;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the essential part of an adhesivetape application device in which the adhesive tape is fed in a directionperpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the instant photographunit;

FIGS. 8 to 10 are schematic views showing variations of the adhesivetape application device;

FIG. 11 is a schematic section view of another embodiment of the instantphotographic apparatus according to the present invention in whichimage-receiving members in the form of sheets are used;

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of another type ofimage-receiving member used in the present invention; and

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the image-receiving member of FIG. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIG. 1, shown therein is an image-receiving member 1,which comprises a large number of image-receiving sheets 2 connectedwith coupling sheets 4 in alternate arrangement. Each image-receivingsheet 2 has on its upper surface an image-forming emulsion layer 2a onwhich a positive image is produced during processing by means ofdiffusion transfer.

For connecting the image-receiving sheet 2 and coupling sheet 4 to eachother, there is provided on the underside at each end of the couplingsheet 4 an adhesive material layer 5a, 5b of a weak bonding strength.The adhesive material layer 5a, 5b can bond the sheets 2 and 4 to eachother at their ends by heating. However, the bonded sheets 2, 4 can beeasily separated from each other by pulling either one of them. On theforward part of the coupling sheet 4 there is a pod 3 of processingliquid attached thereto through an adhesive material layer 5c byheating. Along the side margins of the image-receiving sheet 2,longitudinal mask members 7a, 7b are connected to, but easily separablefrom, the image-receiving sheet 2 by adhesive layer 6a, 6b of a weakbonding strength also by heating. The mask members 7a, 7b serve tospread the processing liquid from the ruptured pod 3 in a uniform layer.The mask members 7a, 7b can be provided with the adhesive materiallayers instead of the adhesive material layers 6a, 6b.

As shown in FIG. 2, the image-receiving member 1 comprises a pluralityof the image-receiving and coupling sheets 2, 4 which are connected toone another in an alternate arrangement so as to provide a series ofimages at regular intervals. Usually, the web-like image-receivingmember 1 is prepared in the form of rolls for convenience of storage andloading. A roll of the image-receiving member 1 loaded in a photographicapparatus is withdrawn frame by frame to be cut along the phantom line 8to a certain length of sheets, whereby the coupling sheet 4 is dividedinto two parts, namely, a withdrawing section 4a including the pod 3 ofprocessing liquid, and a skirt or trailing section 4b which in turnserves as trap means for the excess processing liquid.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the image-receiving sheet member 1a cut fromthe roll of the image-receiving member 1 is partly superposed on theexposed part of the photosensitive member 9, namely the photosensitivesheet member 9a. After the superposition, the superposed image-receivingsheet 1a and photosensitive sheets 9a are, as in the conventional typeof instant film units, pulled between a pair of processing rollers orpressure-applying rollers for distributing and spreading a processingliquid therebetween. During the processing, in the event the superposedsheets move or slip relative to each other, the iamge to be produced onthe image-receiving sheet 2 will blur and/or lose its proper location asdescribed hereinbefore. To prevent this, the superposed sheet members1a, 9a are secured together with a piece of adhesive tape 10a.

It should be noted that the structures of the emulsion layers of theimage-receiving and photosensitive members 1, 9, the processing liquidand the pod 3 for the processing liquid may all be the same as invarious kinds of instant films now on the market in all the countries ofthe world.

Referring now to FIG. 4, shown therein is an instant photographicapparatus for use in practicing the method according to the presentinvention, in which a camera housing 13 at its upper section is providedwith a holder 14 detachably mounting a core rod 12 on which theabove-mentioned web-like photosensitive member 9 is rolled. Within thecamera housing 13, there is a frame member 21 at an exposure position Pin front of which a taking lens 20 with a between-the-lens shutter 19 isfixed so as to create a latent image of the photosensitive member 9 inthe exposure position during exposure. Behind the exposure frame 21there is a flat plate 23, which is a pressure plate, for maintaining theforward parts of the photosensitive member 9 flat thereon. Between thetaking lens 20 and the exposure frame 21 a bellows 22 is provided toexclude undesirable ambient light.

Below the exposure frame 21 there is a pair of rotatable rollers 25, 26driven by means of a motor 27 to advance the photosensitive member 9 bya predetermined length until the leading end of the photosensitivemember 9 is detected by means of a photosensor 28 at a first detectionposition P1. The photosensor 28 is adapted to emit light to which thephotosensitive member is insensitive but which the photosensitive memberreflects, and to detect the thus-reflected light.

Between guide rollers 15, 17, a retracting roller 16 is disposed, whichis rotatably mounted on the end of a piston rod 18a of an air cylinder18 for horizontal movement in order to pull the leading end of thephotosensitive member 9 which extends beyond the forwarding rollers 25,26, back to the forwarding rollers 25, 26 after the exposed forwardportion has been cut off. The provision of the retracting roller 16makes it possible to use as much as possible of the photosensitivemembers.

At the lower section of the camera housing 13 there is a holder 31 fordetachably mounting a core rod 30 on which the above-mentioned web-likeimage-receiving member 1 is rolled. The image-receiving member 1 isforwarded toward a second detection position P2 by means of a pair ofrollers 33, 34 driven by a motor 32. Each of the forwarding rollers 33,34 as shown in FIG. 2, comprises three narrow wheels coaxially mountedon a common shaft, the wheels being positioned to miss the parts of thepods 53 containing the processing liquid, so as not to rupture the pods3 when advancing the image-receiving member 1.

When the photosensitive member 9 is superposed on the image-receivingmember 1, a piece of adhesive tape 10a is used to secure them relativeto each other. Then, these members 1, 9 are cut off by means of a cutter36 to form an exposed photosensitive sheet member 9a and animage-receiving sheet member 1a, as shown in FIG. 3. The cutter 36 maybe replaced by two pairs of cutters 37, 38 downstream of the forwardingrollers 25, 26 and 33, 34 for the respective members.

The use of a piece of adhesive tape 10a has the purpose of eliminatingrelative movement or slippage between the superposed sheet members 1a,9a when pulling the superposed sheet members 1a, 9a between thepressure-applying rollers for processing so as to produce an imagewithout blur on the image-receiving sheet 2.

The adhesive tape piece 10a is provided in such a way that the forwardend of a roll of adhesive tape 10 is withdrawn and then cut off to acertain length. Specifically, a certain length of adhesive tape 10 whichis withdrawn by means of a pair of feed rollers or toothed rollers 40,41, and is held by means of a push plate 42 by suction, the push plate42 being connected to a sliding rod 44 for vertical movement. Therefore,the part of the adhesive tape 10 held by the push plate 42 can be cutoff by means of a cutter 43 upon downward movement of the sliding rod44. The adhesive tape piece 10a thus cut off is pressed against thesuperposed photosensitive and image-receiving members 9, 1 to connectthem to each other. After this, the push plate 42 releases the adhesivetape piece 1a and retracts upwardly.

The sliding lever 44 to which the push plate 42 is connected at itslower end is slidably supported by guide means (not shown) for verticalmovement. For causing the vertical movement of the sliding lever 44,there is provided an eccentric cam member 50 the periphery of which iscontacted with a contact roller 48 on one end of a rocking lever 46pivotally mounted on a shaft 47 at its midportion. The sliding lever 44at its upper end is coupled to the opposite end of the rocking lever 46by means of a pin 45. Therefore, the sliding lever performs a verticalmovement between its upper and lower positions at every turn of the cammember 50 which is rotated by a motor 49.

As shown in detail in FIG. 5, the push plate 42, which forms the bottomof a suction box, is formed with a number of suction holes 42a. Thesuction box is connected to a vacuum source 53 through a flexible pipe52 for producing a negative pressure in the suction box.

Downstream of the suction means provided by the push plate 42, there isdisposed a pair of pressure applying rollers 54, 55 between which thesuperposed photosensitive and image-receiving sheet members 9a, 1a inclose contact are pulled to rupture the pods 3. For applying pressure,one of the rollers 54, 55, for instance the upper roller 54, is biasedby a spring 56.

Downstream of the pressure-applying rollers 54, 55 is a pair ofdisk-like transporting rollers 58a, 58b fixedly supported at the ends ofa shaft 60 and a pair of disk-like transporting rollers 59a, 59bsupported at the ends of a shaft 61 juxtaposed to the transportingrollers 58a, 58b. These disk-like transporting rollers 58a, 58b and 59a,59b, which are rotated at the same rate through gears 62, 63 engagingwith each other, transport the superposed sheet members 1a, 9a bygripping longitudinal mask members 7a, 7b therebetween in order toprevent marking. The rotation of the gear 63 is caused by a motor 72through a drive mechanism 71 well known in the art.

Because high presure is applied to the superposed sheet members 1a, 9ato rupture the pod 3 by means of the pressure-applying rollers 54, 55,the superposed sheet members 1a, 9a must be withdrawn with considerabletensile force. Thereupon, the superposed sheet members 1a, 9a are apt toslip between the disk-like transporting rollers 58a, 59a and 58b, 59b.To avoid such slippage, there is provided a pair of withdrawing rollers65, 66 downstream of the transporting rollers so as to seize the forwardend of the image-receiving sheet member 1a at the beginning of thewithdrawal and then to withdraw the same to a certain extent. If thewithdrawing rollers 65, 66 are in contact with the superposed sheetmembers 1a, 9a until after the pod 3 has passed between thepressure-applying rollers 54, 55, there will be produced marks on theimage-receiving sheet 2. For this reason, the withdrawing roller 65 isadapted to be disengaged from the image-receiving sheet member 1a beforethe image-receiving sheet 2 arrives. This disconnection of thewithdrawing roller 65 is effected by means of a locking arm 67 on oneend of which the withdrawing roller 65 is rotatably mounted. The lockarm 67 is rotated counterclockwise about an axis 70 when the end portion67a is pushed up against a spring 69 by means of a cam member 68.

In the above-described apparatus, the transporting rollers 58a, 58b, 59aand 59b, the withdrawing roller 66 and the cam member 68 are connectedto and driven by the motor 72 through a drive mechanism 71 as shown inblock diagram form in FIG. 5. The motors 27, 32, 49 and 72, the aircylinder 18 and the shutter 19 are sequentially caused to opeate underthe control of a micro-computer (not shown) built in the apparatus, uponoperating the start key.

The sequential operation of the instant photographic apparatus accordingto the first embodiment of the present invention will now be describedhereinunder.

After having loaded the web-like photosensitive member 9 rolled on thecore rod 12 by mounting the same on the holder 14, the leading end ofthe photosensitive member 9 is withdrawn and nipped between theforwarding rollers 25, 26. On the other hand, after having loaded theweb-like image-receiving member 1 rolled on the core rod 30 by mountingthe core rod 30 on the holder 31, the leading end thereof is withdrawnand nipped between the forwarding rollers 33, 34.

For taking the picture of a subject disposed in front of the taking lens20, a start button (not shown) is operated to cause the operation of theshutter 19 so as to create a latent image of the subject on the forepartof the photosensitive member 9 in the exposure station P. After theoperation of the shutter has ended, the motor 32 starts to rotate,causing the rotation of the forwarding rollers 33, 34 between which theimage-receiving member 1 is nipped, so that the image-receiving member 1is forwarded toward the position P2.

When the forward end of the image-receiving member 1 is detected by aphotosensor 35, the motor 32 is stopped. During the forward movement ofthe image-receiving member 1, the motor 72 is started to rotate to causethe rotation of the rollers 65, 66, so as to advance the image-receivingmember 1 until the pods 3 pass between the pressure-applying rollers 54,55. Following the passage of the pods 3 between the pressure-applyingrollers 54, 55, the motor 72 is stopped.

On the other hand, when the forward end of the image-receiving member 1reaches the detection position P2, the motor 27 is started to rotate,causing the rotation of the forwarding rollers 25, 26, thereby toadvance to certain length of the forepart of the photosensitive member9. The forward end of the photosensitive member 9 is, after being guidedby a curved guide plate 78, moved onto and along the upper surface ofthe image-receiving member 1. The motor 27 is also stopped when theforward end of the photosensitive member 9 is detected by thephotosensor 28.

When the photosensitive member 9 is superposed properly on theimage-receiving member 1, the rollers 40, 41 are caused to rotate so asto feed a certain length of the adhesive tape 10, which in turn is heldby the push plate 42 by suction. Then the motor 49 is started to rotateso as to effect one revolution of the cam member 50, causing the slidinglever 44 to perform one reciprocating motion. During the down movementof the sliding lever 44, the adhesive tape 10 held by the push plate 42is cut off by the cutter 43 to provide an adhesive tape piece 10a of acertain length. At its lowermost position, the sliding lever 44 andhence the push plate 42 force the adhesive tape piece 10a against theend of the photosensitive member 9 and a part of the image-receivingmember 1, thereby connecting these members to each other.

Just after the connection of the two superposed members, a valve (notshown) of the vacuum source 53 is changed over to place the inside ofthe holding box including the push plate 42 in communication with theatmosphere, thus releasing the adhesive tape piece 10a. After this, thesliding lever 44 retracts upwardly to its initial position. Theconnected and superposed image-receiving and photosensitive members 1, 9confine the pod 3 therebetween.

Successively, the cutter 36 is actuated to cut the superposed members soas to form a photosensitive sheet member 9a and an image-receiving sheetmember 1a which are connected to and superposed on each other. Afterhaving formed the sheet members 1a, 9a, the motor 72 is restarted torotate, causing the rotation of the nip rollers 65, 66 so as to withdrawthe image-receiving sheet member 1a. Concurrently, side rollers 58a, 58band 59a, 59b, which nip the longitudinal sides of the superposed sheetmembers 1a, 9a, withdraw the superposed sheet members as a unit. Duringthe withdrawal, the pod 3 is ruptured by means of the pressure-applyingrollers 54, 55 to release the processing liquid therefrom which in turnis distributed between the superposed sheet members 1a, 9a. As thesuperposed sheet members 1a, 9a are transported passing between thepressure applying rollers 54, 55, the processing liquid is spread in auniform layer therebetween. The excess of the processing liquid istrapped between the trailing end portion of the photosensitive sheetmember 9a and the trapping section 4b provided at the end of theimage-receiving sheet member 1a.

After the pods 3 have been ruptured, the cam member 68 is controllablyrotated so as to swing the arm 67 in the clockwise direction about theshaft 70, thereby moving and keeping the withdrawing roller 65 securedto the end of the arm 67 away from the photosensitive sheet member 9a.Meanwhile, the side rollers 58a, 58b and 59a, 59b are continuouslyrotated so as to withdraw the superposed sheet members 1a, 9a, therebydelivering them as an instant film unit 80 into a tray 81. As is wellknown in the art of instant photography, upon the withdrawal of theinstant film unit 80 from the apparatus, the diffusion transfer processtakes place outside the apparatus in several tens of seconds, forexample 60 seconds. After the lapse of this time period, the sheetmembers 1a, 9a of the film unit 80 are peeled apart from each other toprovide a desired reverse image on the image-receiving sheet member 1a.

After the photosensitive member 9 has been cut off by the cutter 36, theair cylinder 18 is actuated to advance the piston 18a so as to pull thephotosensitive member 9 back. Consequently, the forward end of theremaining photosensitive member 9 at the cutter is pulled back to theforwarding rollers 25, 26. This helps to conserve the expensivephotosensitive member 9.

A subsequent photographic operation, which is started by the operationof the start button, is effected in the same sequence as describedabove.

It is well known in the art of instant photography to heat the instantfilm unit 80 to a temperature of about 25°-30° C. during development.The film unit 80 thus heated can provide a desired print finished with auniform quality thereover. For this reason, it is desirable to heat theinstant film unit 80 for a certain time within the camera housing 13.

It is also well known in the art of instant photography to provideeither a black opaque paper base or a black opaque layer in an instantfilm unit in order to enable processing the exposed instant film unit inthe daylight without light fog. If a black opaque paper base or blackopaque layer is omitted, the cost of the instant film unit will belowered. In this case, however, the instant film unit having no blackopaque paper base or layer must be processed in a darkroom.

In view of the above, there is provided in the camera housing 13 whichis adapted to exclude the ambient light, a means for temporarilyretaining the instant film unit 80 within the camera housing 13. Asshown in FIG. 6. this retaining means comprises an intermittentlyrotatable wheel 90, resembling a water wheel. Downstream of thewithdrawing rollers 65, 66 there is disposed an inclined chute 85 whichhas a detent 86 secured to a solenoid 87 at the exit end. The detent 86retracts to allow the instant film unit 80 in the chute 85 to slide downwhen the solenoid 87 is energized. The solenoid 87 is controlled by atimer 88 to be kept energized for the period of time required for theinstant film unit 80 to slide out of the chute 85.

The rotatable wheel 90 comprises side walls 91 fixedly mounted on ashaft 92 and spaced from each other by a plurality of partition walls93, so as to provide, for example, eight compartments 90a. The shaft 92is connected to a motor 94 through an intermittent motion mechanism 85which turns the shaft 92 intermittently one-eighth revolution everyfifteen seconds, for example. Each intermittent movement of theintermittent drive mechanism is detected by means of a switch 96, whichactuates the timer 88 simultaneously with the rotation of the wheel 90so as to keep the solenoid energized for a predetermined period of timeuntil the wheel 90 is stopped. For simplicity of the mechanism, it maybe desirable to replace the motor 94 with a pulse motor which is drivenwith intermittent pulses. This replacement permits the intermittentdrive mechanism to be omitted.

An instant film unit 80 leaving the wheel 90 is received in a tray 98through an exit 13a formed in the camera housing. For preventing theambient light from entering the camera housing through the exit 13a, itis desirable to cover the exit 13a with a flexible opaque flap (notshown).

Beneath the holding wheel 90 there is a heater 97 with an automatictemperature controller so as to keep the temperature in the holdingwheel constant, for example at 25° C.

In the foregoing embodiment, the holding wheel 90 is adapted to turn byone increment every fifteen seconds and the detent 86 is adapted toretract when the holding wheel 90 is stopped. Therefore, when the detent86 retracts, an instant film unit 80 leaves the chute 85 and enters thecompartment 90a of the holding wheel 90 in registry with the exit end ofthe chute 85. The instant film unit 80 now in the compartment 90a isheated to a temperature of 25° C. The holding wheel turns a halfrevolution during 60 seconds, whereupon the instant film unit 80 isdelivered into a tray 98.

As will be apparent from the above, because the instant film unit 80 isheated at 25° C. for 60 seconds, the development and fixing proceedswell, so that a print of uniform quality, for example of uniformdensity, can be obtained. The image-receiving sheet 1a can then bepeeled from the photosensitive sheet 9a after 60 seconds or more, thatis, after the development and fixing are complete.

Reference is now had to FIG. 7 showing another example of the adhesivetape application device, in which the adhesive tape is withdrawn in adirection perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of thephotosensitive and image-receiving members. In this example, partssimilar to those in FIG. 4 are designated by the same numerals andsymbols. According to this example, a narrow adhesive tape 100 can beused.

FIG. 8 shows still another example of the adhesive tape applicationdevice, in which a parallelepipedal suction box 102 provided with alarge number of suction holes on its outer surface is employed. Thesuction box 102 is adapted to descend after having been turnedone-fourth revolution. Specifically, the pressure inside the holdingsurface 102a of the suction box 102 is made negative to hold theforepart of an adhesive tape 104 by suction. The suction box 102 is thenturned one-fourth revolution whilst keeping the forepart held.Consequently, a part of the adhesive tape adjacent to the forepart isbrought into contact with the holding surface. At this time a cutter 106is actuated to move toward a corner of the suction box 102 so as to cutoff the forepart of the adhesive tape 104. The suction box 102continuously moves down until the cut-off portion of tape 104 is pressedagainst the superposed photosensitive and image-receiving members 9, 1.During the downward movement of the suction box 102, the holding surface102b has no suction effect so that the adjacent part of the adhesivetape 104 does not move downward with the suction box 102. When thesuction box 102 moves back up to its initial position, then the holdingsurface 102b is caused to have suction effect, so as to hold saidadjacent part of the adhesive tape 104. After this, the same sequence isrepeated.

FIG. 9 shows a further example of the adhesive tape applying device, inwhich a rotatable suction drum is employed. The adhesive tape 110 iswithdrawn from the roll means by a rotary suction roller 111 so as tomove the forepart of the tape 110 toward the outer surface of a suctiondrum 112. When a certain length of the adhesive tape 110 has beenwithdrawn, the pressure inside the suction drum 112 is made negative tohold the forepart of the adhesive tape 110 therearound, and then thecutter 113 is actuated to cut off an adhesive tape piece 110a. Thesuction drum 112 is then controlled by a rotation-shift mechanism 114 insuch a way that suction drum 112 moves downwardly to press the adhesivetape piece 110a against the photosensitive member 9 and then movesforwardly, that is, to be the right in FIG. 9, while rotating, so as toapply the adhesive tape piece 110a in bridging relation between thephotosensitive and image-receiving members 9, 1.

FIG. 10 shows a bonding device for bonding the forward end of thephotosensitive member to a part of the image-receiving member by using abonding agent. The withdrawn section 4a of the coupling sheet 4 has abonding agent layer 118 with a certain width which has been previouslyprovided thereon. On the bonding agent layer 118, the forward end of thephotosensitive member 1 is superposed and then pressed by means of aheat sealer 119 for quick bonding. The heat sealer 119, which is, as iswell known, provided with a heater therein, is connected to a T-shapedsliding lever 120. The vertical sliding movement of the sliding lever120 is caused by rotation of an eccentric cam member 121 which isadapted to make one revolution per bond. After bonding, the cam member121 moves the sliding lever 120 upwardly against the action of thespring 122. It will be evident that the heat sealer 119, which is of thevertically reciprocating type, may be replaced with a rotary pressingheat sealer.

Reference is now had to FIG. 11, wherein is shown another embodiment ofthe instant photographic apparatus in accordance with the presentinvention, in which image-receiving members in the form of sheets areused. The image-receiving sheet member used in this embodiment has thesame parts as in the image-receiving member shown in FIG. 4, these sameparts being designated by the same numerals. The image-receiving sheetmember 125 comprises an image-receiving sheet 126, a withdrawing section127 having a pod 128 of processing liquid attached thereon, a skirtsection 129 connected to the end of the image-receiving sheet 126, andmasking members 130 bonded on the both longitudianl sides of theimage-receiving sheet 126. It is similar to the image-receiving sheetmember 1a cut off along the line 8 from the web-like image-receivingmember 1 shown in FIG. 2.

In this embodiment, there is provided in the camera housing 13 apressure plate 132 on which the image-receiving sheet members 125 areplaced in a stack. Above the pressure plate 132 there is a rotarysuction drum 133 provided with a large number of suction holes on itsouter surface, which is driven by means of a motor through aone-revolution clutch (not shown) to make one turn at a time. Thesuction drum 133 is caused to rotate, while attracting the topimage-receiving sheet member 125 by its skirt section 129, to separateit from the next one in the stack and to feed the attractedimage-receiving sheet member 125 until the leading end thereof is nippedbetween a pair of forwarding rollers 134, 135. The forwarding rollers134, 135 are controlled to rotate continuously until the leading end ofthe image-receiving sheet member 125 reaches the second detectionposition P2.

The pressure plate 132 is biased upwardly by, for example, coil springs136 to press the top image-receiving sheet member 125 against thesuction drum 133. In this position, the leading end of the foremostimage-receiving sheet member 125 is disposed slightly higher than thetop of a blocking plate 137.

This apparatus, except for the mechanism for feeding the image-receivingsheet members 125 one by one and the location of the cutter 37 which isbelow the forwarding rollers 25, 26 for the photosensitive sheet, issubstantially the same as the apparatus of FIG. 4. Therefore, thegeneral description of the operation of the apparatus can be omitted.

FIGS. 12 and 13 show another example of the image-receiving member foruse in the apparatus shown in FIG. 4, which comprises image-receivingsheets 141, each with an image-forming layer 141a and a web-base 143 towhich are secured pods 142 of the processing liquid.

The web-like base is formed with a plurality of openings 143a at regularintervals defining both an image area and the thickness to which theprocessing liquid layer is spread. The web-like base 143 is furtherprovided, surrounding the openings 143a on its back side, with adhesivematerial layers 144 having a weak bonding strength, by which theimage-receiving sheets 141 are connected to, but easily separable from,the web-like base 143 upon heating.

Adjacent to the opening 143a, the web-like base 143 is provided on themargin on the front side thereof with a pair of spacer members 146 whichserve as a trap for the excess of processing liquid from the image areaso as to prevent the escape of the excess processing liquid from thebase. Adhesive material layers 147 are provided for retaining the pods142 of processing liquid. The image-receiving member 140 described aboveis cut off along the line shown by the arrow 148 by the cutter 36 ofFIG. 4 to provide a single frame of image-receiving member.

Although in the foregoing embodiment the pods of processing liquid havebeen previously attached to the image-receiving member or theimage-receiving sheet members, it is possible either to attach the podto the member immediately before the member is forwarded from its loadedposition, or to apply a processing liquid between the photosensitive andimage-receiving members immediately before the superposition thereof.

The invention has been described with particular reference to preferredillustrative embodiments thereof, but it will be understood thatvariations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scopeof the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A photographic method comprising the followingsteps:providing a photosensitive member which is a strip in the form ofa roll of a length to receive a plurality of exposures; providing animage-receiving sheet separate and spaced from said photosensitivemember, on which a positive image is adapted to be formed correspondingto a latent image on said photosensitive member; withdrawing an end ofsaid strip from said roll; exposing said withdrawn end to a photographicimage so as to form a latent image; cutting said end from said strip toa predetermined length to provide a cut-off portion bearing said latentimage; moving the cut-off portion of said photosensitive member and saidimage-receiving member toward each other and into superposed relationand spreading a processing liquid between said latent image and saidimage-receiving member so as to form a positive image of said latentimage on said image-receiving member by diffusion transfer; andseparating said superposed photosensitive member and saidimage-receiving member from each other after the completion of saiddiffusion transfer.
 2. A method as claimed in claim 1, and connectingthe end of said photosensitive member to said image-receiving memberbefore said diffusion transfer process.
 3. A method as claimed in claim2, and providing said image-receiving members in the form of separatesheets.
 4. A method as claimed in claim 3, and providing saidimage-receiving member with a pod containing a processing liquid thereinon the forward end of said image-receiving sheet that is juxtaposed withthe forward end of said image-receiving member.
 5. A method as claimedin claim 4, and providing on opposite longitudinal sides of saidimage-receiving sheet a pair of longitudinally extending mask members.6. A method as claimed in claim 2, and providing said image-receivingmember in the form of a roll, and cutting the last-named roll to apredetermined length corresponding to one exposure before said diffusiontransfer.
 7. A method as claimed in claim 6, and cutting saidphotosensitive and image-receiving members simultaneously in superposedrelationship.
 8. A method as claimed in claim 6, and providing saidimage-receiving member in the form of a strip comprising a series ofimage-receiving portions on which a positive image adapted to be isformed and intermediate portions to which a pod containing a processingliquid is attached, said image-receiving and intermediate portionsalternating with each other lengthwise of said strip.
 9. A method asclaimed in claim 8, and providing longitudinal mask members on bothsides of each of said image-receiving portions.
 10. A method as claimedin claim 8, and cutting off said image-receiving member between a saidimage-receiving portion and a said pod.
 11. A method as claimed in claim6, and providing said image-receiving member in the form of a striphaving a plurality of openings spaced apart therealong at regularintervals, and providing image-receiving sheets on which a positiveimage is adpated to be formed, one sheet closing each of said openings,and providing pods of said processing liquid on said image-receivingmember between said openings.
 12. A method as claimed in claim 11, andcutting off a said image-receiving member between a said pod and a saidimage-receiving portion.
 13. A method as claimed in claim 12, andproviding a pair of spacing members attached to longitudinal sides ofsaid image-receiving member at the end of each opening that will beopposite a pod after said cutting off of a said image-receiving member.